The Mostly True Memoirs of a NightWing Princess
by Fatespeaker
Summary: Greatness, former princess of the Night Kingdom, inherited a dark world of secrets and lies. From her place beside Queen Battlewinner, she watched the NightWings shape history. Now her candid set of memoirs reveals the truth about the terrible, irreversible decisions made by her tribe. She's finally ready to share her story. (Written as a sort of "autobiography" for Greatness.)
1. Why I Started Writing

**Introduction: Why I Started Writing**

I used to be a princess.

The dragonets of destiny have asked me to write down my story. At first I was really scared to. I was sad and angry about a lot of things, about the truth of what went on in the NightWing fortress. And I was ashamed. Like a lot of other NightWings, I wanted to bury our past and pretend it never happened.

But now everyone knows about my tribe. The crimes, the plans, the experiments - all of it. More importantly, everyone is judging us. Not a day in the rainforest goes by without someone arguing about my mother, about what she did. Some dragons claim that, since the war is over, we have peace. We don't. Now that the truth is out, I don't think there will ever be peace.

That's part of why I decided to start writing. The story I'm about to tell will make a lot of dragons mad. It's ugly, and I wish it never happened, but I'm telling it to help my tribe. The world needs to know our reasons. The world needs to hear our voices.

The dragonets of destiny, especially Starflight - that blind one who uses big words, have told me that they would like me to contribute to history. At first, I didn't understand. I thought, Why would anyone care about my life? No dragon wants to read about a former princess, a daughter who never became queen (and who never wanted to in the first place).

Then I realized that no other NightWings were speaking up. Nobody wanted to admit what we'd done. They were all just as sad, angry, or ashamed as I was. But we have to share our stories. If we don't, then history will never know truth. We will be remembered as monsters. Our real hearts, lives, and stories will die with us. That isn't right. We can't let that happen.

I witnessed history. I stood in the rooms of the council, walked the halls of the fortress, and was the voice of every statement that my mother - Queen Battlewinner of the NightWings - made to her tribe. I've spent my whole life repeating things, mostly falsehoods. It's time for me to start writing down some words of my own.

It would be useless to try and cover things up, to lie. So I won't. I'm going to tell the truth. I'm going to tell the story again. I'll try to tell it fairly.

Maybe this will convince some of you not to judge us so harshly.


	2. You Are Destined For Greatness

**Part I:** **"You Are Destined For Greatness"**

I remember asking my mother why she named me "Greatness". We were sitting in the library. There were a bunch of scrolls that she wanted me read piled up between us. I was barely a year old. I was wondering why she hadn't given me a cool name like Darkfighter or Bloodykill.

"I find it sad that you have to ask me that, daughter," she replied, not looking up from her opened scroll, "because it is quite obvious, really. You are a princess. You will be a queen. You are _destined_ for _greatness_."

* * *

I hatched in my mother's private chamber, a big cave that was somewhere near the center of our fortress, from a small black egg, on a night with two moons. As soon as I hatched, I had breathing problems because the volcano was pouring out a lot of smoke that night. Battlewinner brought me out to the shore of the island while the council flew overhead, watching, and the tribe waited to see if I would survive.

This was normal for NightWing dragonets. I didn't have weak lungs or anything - the air was unbreathable. I was lucky to be royalty. Normal dragonets died all the time from hatching at the wrong time and choking on toxic smoke.

The hatching conditions on the island were horrendous, even for a royal egg like mine. My tribe's health was so bad. It was a miracle if a dragon laid an egg, and a lot times, that egg would die within a week. Due to our bad food supply, most NightWing mothers were very sick and malnourished. Apparently this makes the eggs weak and sickly too.

Like all the other NightWings hatched on that island, I was born sick. My lungs eventually started working, but I don't think any of us ever fully recovered. Even Battlewinner, our queen, the highest ranked NightWing of them all, was constantly stooped over with a cough.

Battlewinner struggled to continue the royal line. Her first mate, Prince Insight, passed before she could lay any of his eggs. She married again less than a month after he died. They say she started making the arrangements before Insight's body was even cold. That's how desperate she was to have an heir.

She laid five eggs before mine. None of them hatched.

Traditionally, the queen's eggs are suppose to stay in the hatchery, but after watching three of her eggs die, Battlewinner decided to start keeping hers in a better room. This may have saved my life, since the NightWing hatchery was always either too hot or too cold to be safe. Since she was too busy to do it herself, three of Battlewinner's most trusted guards were posted in her chamber, keeping an eye on my egg.

When I hatched, the Night Kingdom rejoiced. Dragons ran around shouting, "We have a princess! We have an heir!"

The council waited a week (to make sure I wouldn't die young) and then held a celebration. The whole tribe danced on the beach. This is the only time my hatching day was ever celebrated, and I don't remember it.

* * *

Once the partying was over, Battlewinner began training me. I knew my title, Princess, before I knew my real name. I learned to address Battlewinner as "Queen" instead of "Mama", because that was the proper way of talking.

I guess I should make this clear: Battlewinner was a queen first, and a mother second. I wasn't upset about that or anything. I never questioned it.

She was proud of me at first. At least, I think she was. I mean, I was a pretty big accomplishment. For a short time, in the very beginning, Battlewinner was just happy to have a daughter, and I was happy because I was a baby and baby dragonets are dumb and happy. Now I can barely remember that time. I wonder if Battlewinner remembered it.

My father, King Allseer, was alive when I hatched, but he died soon afterward. The first and only time I saw my mother weep was when she told me how. "While commanding some of our best forces on the mainland," she said, "your father was murdered by an IceWing." That was the story she retold at every official meeting and on every remembrance day. I grew up cursing the Ice Kingdom.

Now I know that it wasn't so simple, that there are other sides to the story of how Allseer died. Maybe he was killed by Queen Glacier's assassin. Maybe he attacked the IceWing first and was killed in self defense. No dragon will ever know the truth.

Anyway, regardless of how he died, it's true that my father was more of a consort than a leader. Though Battlewinner felt a lot of personal grief over it, the NightWing leadership was hardly changed by his death. Apparently all he did while alive was carry out Battlewinner's orders.

I received lessons from the best scholars in the Night Kingdom. That may _sound_ impressive, but remember how sick and poor my tribe was. There was no concern for any education or research that didn't relate to saving our scales and winning the war. One of my tutors, the Royal Scientist Lateword, tried to get Battlewinner to let me learn chemistry. He was rebuked.

There were lots of scrolls and lectures. Most of them I didn't understand, so I pretended to. That would always make Battlewinner happy for a little while. Then she would figure out how I was cheating or faking my way through stuff, and she would give me ANOTHER speech about being a better princess.

Those speeches were even harder to understand. It was like a cycle! I never learned much, I just got more and more confused.

It wasn't my fault, really. No scroll can teach a dragonet how to be queen. Nothing can prepare you for that.

* * *

The NightWing throne was always too big for me.

Swiftclaw, a council member, once asked me what I thought of the council's meeting chamber. I was a little dragonet, so I said, "Too big! Big, big, big!" She snorted and grumbled that I would never be queen. Swiftclaw was a jerk.

We didn't really keep track of hatching days, but I know I was around one year old when I started my real "apprenticeship" with Battlewinner. By then I was old enough for her to trust me with keeping royal secrets. She made me accompany her everywhere and forced me into NightWing politics.

I hated politics. To a dragonet, politics is just a room full of dragons with boring voices who are mad at each other for stupid reasons. Every day, bored out of my mind, I would follow Battlewinner around the fortress and watch her do her job.

She ordered me to take notes on everything, even her secret meetings. I didn't want to. I doodled. I wrote poems. I did everything except take notes. Then one day Battlewinner grabbed me and yelled and me - really, really yelled at me. I don't even remember what she said, only how loud she was. After that, my notes were thorough and flawless. Of course, she still burned all of them. The information _was_ top secret.

Council meetings were torture for a fidgety dragonet. I had to stand there, watching, as the council argued and argued. I didn't understand the subjects that they were debating. Now, looking back, I see how important these discussions were and why Battlewinner wanted me to see them.

How to save us from starving. Who should win the SandWing war. Where and when to evacuate the tribe. While they decided these things, I was daydreaming and napping. No wonder Battlewinner was always tired and disappointed with me.

Obviously I didn't know it, but I was hatched at just the right time to witness a ton of historic stuff. Battlewinner always described it as a storm. "If this tempest of misfortune doesn't pass soon," she said to me after one extra chaotic meeting, "you will inherit it." I had no idea what she talking about.

I sat beside my mother's throne as she perfected plans that were started before I was born and delivered on deals that she'd made while I was still in an egg. Government was confusing, boring, and bigger than anything I could ever imagine.

* * *

At this time in my life, the plan for our animus was already in motion. His powers had been discovered a long time ago, and Battlewinner was trying to decide how to use him. Any discussions related to Stonemover were super important and private. I had to promise never to share what I heard. I was always on my best behavior during those meetings.

Sometimes Stonemover was allowed to come in. He sat in a corner and only talked when Battlewinner asked him to. The council mostly met without him. They were arguing about his fate - his whole life, and he never even knew.

One time, when Stonemover _was_ there, Battlewinner asked a question about how his animus magic worked. She wanted to know how many spells he could cast before losing his soul. Stonemover said he didn't know. He asked her to only make him cast a few. No more than three, he begged. Battlewinner nodded like she was going to agree to that.

Then two of the council members stepped up. They presented Lateword, who then presented his research into animus magic. He showed Battlewinner a bunch of graphs and old documents, and, somehow, he convinced her that our animus was capable of doing way more magic than three spells. Battlewinner let the council vote. They decided that Stonemover's magic would be used "as much as needed for the plan".

Stonemover was upset. He demanded that they reconsider. He sounded shocked. Battlewinner just shook her head. I got scared and stepped back. I didn't really understand how magic worked, but every NightWing dragonet kner the stories of crazy animus dragons like Darkstalker.

Battlewinner clenched her talons into fists and told Stonemover to leave.

"None of you know what it's like," he snarled, "to be in my scales, to be cursed like this! This isn't right! Can't you see?"

The guards escorted him out. The important dragons all muttered and shook their heads. Stonemover was never invited to a council meeting again.

Later that night, I sat in my room and wondered about Stonemover. I kept hearing his angry words in my head. I thought, I am not so different. I looked out my window, at the three moons. I was no longer scared of him.

A NightWing princess is like an animus. She is trapped because she hatched with power in her blood. She is stuck with a fate that she did not choose. Just as the animus is destined for madness, she is destined for greatness.

I walked up and down the hall, thinking about that. Nobody bothered me. I went to Battlewinner's chamber and found her reading an old scroll. I asked her about Stonemover. I asked what she was planning for him.

This was all my mother said: "Greatness, I hope that dragon dies before you are queen."

* * *

As I grew, so did Battlewinner's expectations. She was never really satisfied with my intellect. While I was young and cute and loved by everyone, she waited. Then, as soon as I was old enough to understand her lectures, she started trying to fix me.

We must have spent a million hours in the library. I never liked reading or writing, so it was always a struggle. True to her name, Battlewinner always won. I did everything she asked, read every scroll, followed every bit of advice. None of that seemed to help. Battlewinner grew more and more frustrated with me. Meanwhile, the Night Kingdom's despair deepened.

Battlewinner's poise was amazing. As complicated and risky as things got, she was always in control. Many plans were being hatched as I continued my basic education. The famous dragonet prophecy was one of them, but I think I will save that topic for another chapter.

A part of me is still in awe of my mother. Everything about her was powerful. No matter how she spoke, the strength her voice made dragons listen. When she flew over the island or strode through the fortress, respectful silence fell. Her composure was always calm, and her sharp eyes could stop any NightWing in his tracks. She was a true queen. A queen of legends.

But that's not _my_ Battlewinner. My main image of her is not a regal, untouchable queen on a throne. When I think of my mother, I see her there in the library, telling me to focus. I hear her repeating sentences, angrier and angrier. I feel her prodding my wings and stomping on my tail as she tells me to stand like a queen.

And I see her tired. I see her sitting, coughing, at her desk. Her voice is raspy and fades as she lectures. Her squinted eyes are watery. She is looking at me like she might start screaming. She is telling me to be a princess. "You are the next NightWing queen. One day you will be great like me."

I never felt very great. Especially not when she talked like that. I never felt like a real queen, or even a princess. I never understood.


	3. An Intelligent Dragon

**Part II: "An Intelligent Dragon"**

When Morrowseer first presented his plan to the council, it confused me. I was even more confused when Battlewinner accepted it.

I don't remember everything he said. I took a nap during the first half of the meeting. The previous night's long library lecture made me tired. Apparently everyone was so interested by what he said that nobody noticed I was sleeping.

What I did hear seemed impossible. Morrowseer claimed that by tricking the other tribes into believing a prophecy about the SandWings, we could use a few "heroes" to sway all of Pyrrhia. The SandWing War of Succession had already been going on for quite some time. Battlewinner wanted to end it soon, but she also had to make sure that the result would benefit the Night Kingdom. She was often stressed out by this.

Now many dragons think that the power we had over the war was unfair and scary. That's not how we saw it. The NightWings were _suppose_ to pull strings, stop and start wars, and manipulate everything. That was just how things worked for us. I thought it was normal.

Morrowseer's plan to end the war seemed complicated and long to me. He explained that our spies in the mainland knew of many peacemonger groups, and that these dragons would probably believe whatever mumbo-jumbo we told them. He was right. Those groups would eventually unite and make the Talons of Peace.

I didn't listen much after that. I was not very interested in the war. To me, it was too far away to care about.

Near the end of the council meeting, Morrowseer recited his rough draft of the prophecy to the council. Battlewinner had worked on it with him. I found out later that she had been planning this with him since before I was born.

Morrowseer's original prophecy poem called for dragonets from all the tribes. The council decided to cut out the part about IceWings. Our tribe still hated them and refused to work with them. They also told him to remove the verse about twin SkyWings because it was too risky to mess with Queen Scarlet.

Swiftclaw proposed that we put more NightWing dragonets in the prophecy. The council voted against it. Battlewinner was glad that they did. It would have seemed too suspicious, she told me afterward.

At Battlewinner's urging, the council approved the false prophecy. I was still drowsy when they took their vote. The result surprised me. I had been sure that it would be rejected. I looked to Battlewinner and saw that she was smiling.

She knew exactly what she was doing when she said yes to that plan. She had crafted every word that came out of Morrowseer's mouth.

I remember her staring at me after the council was dismissed. Her eyes were so bright and sharp. I realized that she knew I had been sleeping. She knew everything, and she was in control.

* * *

Morrowseer was a politician. Maybe that's why he was so good at lying. We used him to convince the other tribes that we still had magic.

I think everyone knows now, but if, somehow, some dragon hasn't heard, here's the truth. The NightWings aren't magic. Battlewinner wasn't even sure that we ever were. There are no prophets and no mindreaders. All of that comes from the lies we spread all over Pyrrhia. Morrowseer, our false prophet, headed those efforts.

Morrowseer had the same kind of confident aura as my mother, though he wielded less power than her. He had leadership in his scales. If Battlewinner was not in the room, then everyone looked at Morrowseer.

A lot snobby upper NightWings had swagger, but Battlewinner liked Morrowseer because she thought he was smart enough to back his up. She used to say, "Morrowseer is the closest thing we have to a prophet - an intelligent dragon." She would tell me to be more like Morrowseer, to act like him when I spoke to the council.

Despite what some rumors said, my mother's relationship with Morrowseer was strictly professional. They often met in private because she did not trust or respect the other NightWings as much. I was there for only a couple of their meetings, and only after Battlewinner gave me a long speech about secrecy.

I never admired Morrowseer. I think Battlewinner wanted me to. He used to scare me when I was very young, because he was tall and bossed everyone around. Then I saw how he deferred to Queen Battlewinner. It's hard to be afraid of a dragon who sucks up to your mother.

* * *

According to the old records in the Night Kingdom library, Morrowseer actually came from a lower class family. I looked him up once. I wanted to see if he had royal blood. The answer was no, not one drop of it.

That just goes to show how the Night Kingdom was falling apart. Nobody cared about the ancient hierarchy. We were all too desperate to survive! The only lineage that remained important was the queen's. Not like in other tribes, such as the SkyWings and SeaWings, where families are sorted into ranks.

Battlewinner was pleased when I asked her about this. She said that this was the kind of question she wanted to hear from me. "When a tribe suffers enough, enduring starvation and sickness and hopelessness, it eventually abandons the old ways and allows dragons to rise up through merit," she explained grimly. "The NightWings have suffered long, so long, and Morrowseer has a lot of merit."

I thought about my bloodline. It all seemed so unfair. Why did I have to be born into the one family that still mattered? Why couldn't a different _queen_ rise up through merit?

I did not ask Battlewinner those questions. She would have just gotten mad at me. She would have reminded me that I was destined for greatness. Nothing would ever change that.

* * *

Battlewinner was excited for the prophecy plan. She doubled the number of weekly council meetings. She ordered scouts to start looking at the mainland. She spent hours in her chamber penning letters to the Talons of Peace.

She also had Morrowseer praised and promoted. She said that was a fair trade for the plan that would save our tribe.

An aggressive propaganda campaign was launched. I did not know what those words meant at the time, or why Morrowseer was so pleased by them. I couldn't ask Battlewinner because she was busy with her letters. I quickly figured it out, though.

We were spreading more lies. Battlewinner said that in wars, dragons got desperate. They looked for heroes. They wanted something to hope for.

We were going to exploit them.

Battlewinner was always frank about that. She liked speak plainly.

All of the best writers in the tribe were ordered to make up stories about how magical and good we were. Battlewinner somehow had enough time to read over these. She would send me between rooms, giving the authors her feedback as she worked on more important paperwork.

One of the scribes was named Deadlyclaws. Battlewinner sent me to his cave to tell him to watch where he put his commas.

He said, "Okay, I'll do that."

He also said hello and told me his name. The next time I saw him, I didn't remember it.

* * *

All of this work should have distracted Battlewinner from me. I hoped that she would leave me alone. Instead, she found new ways to train me.

I took dictation, delivered notes, and signed countless scrolls. She tried to keep me busy. Whenever I complained about it, she would double the workload. She also pulled me from all the classes that she thought were unnecessary. My studies in art and music were replaced by more lectures in the library.

I became quiet. I still hardly understood anything. I was cut off from everything fun. I had no real friends. When I tried my hardest, it wasn't good enough. When I didn't try at all, I felt guilty.

Then there was another problem. I was bored. All the other NightWing dragonets got to fly around and play while I was stuck watching the council's debates.

Lateword told me to get a hobby, so I started searching. I tried writing. I hated that. It felt like homework. I tried painting. I was terrible at that, and it made me feel silly. I tried sparring with the other dragonets, but they were all too nervous about hurting their princess.

Eventually, I picked something more shallow. I made a habit out of standing in front of mirrors and making myself look pretty. I opened up my box of jewels and started wearing them. Everything else in my life was dull. Why not make my scales shiny? Battlewinner did always tell me to look presentable.

I liked being beautiful. It was nice to be envied for something. I wasn't powerful like Battlewinner. I wasn't intelligent like Morrowseer or Lateword. All I had was treasure. Dragons naturally respect that.

The NightWing tribe didn't have that much treasure. Wearing any of it made a dragon stand out. Battlewinner noticed right away. At first, she seemed glad that I was making an effort. Then I guess she changed her mind.

She started by muttering things like "frivolous" and "vapid" when she saw me. I thought that she was going to give me another lecture. When she didn't, I figured she was fine with me decorating myself. I was wrong.

* * *

After a long, boring discussion of the prophecy, one where even the council dragons yawned, Battlewinner summoned me to her chambers. She was wearing a ceremonial crown of plain pewter.

She was silent when I walked into the room. That was how I knew she had a lesson for me. She commented on my jewelry, telling me the history of one of the bracelets. Then she led me away through the halls. I frowned and wondered where we were going.

I followed her to the entrance of the old treasury. I had never been in there before. The volcano had erupted when I was too young to remember, and that part of the fortress had not been used since. Dragonets, especially important ones like me, weren't suppose to be around here.

We went down a long, dark tunnel. I was nervous, so I pressed myself against Battlewinner's side.

She pushed me away and growled, "Future queens do not cower, Greatness."

When we reached the main treasury cave, I thought we would see gold or gems. Instead we found two dead dragons. I was disgusted and terrified. I yelped and turned back to my mother.

Battlewinner looked me in the eye and said, "These dragons were guarding the royal treasury. During the eruption, they were trapped here and suffocated on the toxic gas. They died not for honor or victory or our survival, but for your silly, sparkly things. So remember that. Remember that as you parade our treasure like a fool."

I decided to never wear that stupid treasure again. Back in my room that night, I threw all the jewels back in their box and put it away.

For a long time, I had nightmares about suffocation. I would often wake up gasping and crying. If Battlewinner heard me, from her room across the hall, she never did a thing about it.


	4. Mama, What's Wrong?

**Part III: "Mama, What's Wrong?"**

Everyone's lives changed with that prophecy. Especially mine. I had to stand in more rooms and watch more history unfold. Battlewinner finalized the poem and ordered the scribes to start making copies of it. Morrowseer would oversee the distribution of those scrolls across all of Pyrrhia.

The council all seemed nervous about this false prophecy. Even Morrowseer looked unsure. Battlewinner stayed calm and indifferent. She said we still had a lot of time to gather the eggs and perfect the plan.

An official document, to be signed by the NightWing Council and our inferior, non-NightWing partners, was drafted by Morrowseer. Battlewinner called a meeting and sent me to tell everyone about it. The council chambers were quiet and serious that day. No dragon spoke a single word out of turn.

This time I paid attention to the council's discussion. I was surprised by the fact that the other tribes really believed in the prophecy. I wondered how Morrowseer had convinced them all.

After Battlewinner's confident concluding statement, a scroll was passed around and signed. It stated the prophecy, claiming that it was real and important, and a promise from the Night Kingdom that those who cooperated were bringing peace to the tribes. The lie had become official.

Though I had no input in the plan, I signed anyway. I was the princess, after all.

When the scroll returned a month later with the new signatures, Battlewinner showed it to me and said something about "the power of deception". I thought about those dragons and the faith they had in our fake prophecy. I wondered if I could ever fall for something so easily.

* * *

Stonemover left for the mainland a few days later.

The council stood around him and the whole tribe watched. Battlewinner herself handed him a big bag, full of maps and written instructions. She told him he was special. "It is time," she said in her proud, calm voice, "for you to save our tribe."

Stonemover bowed to his queen. Then he looked at me, and I remembered that I had never spoken to him. I suddenly wanted to tell him how alike we were. How did he feel about everyone watching him? I wondered if they would soon all look at me in the same way. Stonemover bowed to me. I nodded back, since that was what I had been instructed to do for the ceremony. I shook Stonemover's talons and said nothing.

He took the bag from Battlewinner, bowed to his tribe, and flew off into the sunrise. We never saw him again.

Everyone cried happily and hugged each other. We all shouted his name. Battlewinner smiled. The council dragons cheered and wept with relief. I watched him disappear into the gray sky.

* * *

Around this time, I turned three years old. I don't know the exact day. I started growing taller and feeling older.

Battlewinner slowly began to increase my battle training. She made me stop most of my academic lessons to focus on learning to fight. Even her long speeches about politics and ruling became less frequent. At first, I was happy about the change. Then I got tired of the training and wondered what Battlewinner's reasons were.

One day I simply asked her, "Why are you so hard on me now?"

Her answer: "In battle you cannot question your superiors. You will practice aerial moves for three hours today."

I told her that I was a princess, not a soldier. She glared at me. A real, queenly glare that made me shrink back and shiver. I expected her to give me a long, boring talk that explained everything and made me feel foolish for not seeing it. She didn't. She just turned away and went back to her work.

Confused and angry, I stomped off to my room. I tried to stay there and be angry. It was no use. I had to obey.

If only Battlewinner had known what those three hours of practice would cause. I feel guilty and amused when I think of how she felt later.

I went down to the beach and drilled a difficult diving move over and over. It had some intimidating name like 'the vulture dive'. I was suppose to swoop down, attack, and then pull back up. For some reason, I could never get the timing right. I kept crashing into the sand. Soon my wings were bruised and my scales ached. I was so frustrated and mad at myself that I didn't notice another dragon was watching.

I spotted him after one of my fails, or maybe during one of the swoops. He was sitting on some jagged black rocks (basalt, I think). His wings were furled, so I couldn't see their sparkle. I think he was smiling, and that was why I became angry with him. I straightened up, still covered in sand, and went over to him. When he saw that I had noticed him, he became very shy and pretended that he had not been watching.

Battlewinner would have reproached him, or punished him with her terrifying scowl. I wish I had been strong enough to do one of those things. It would have saved me a lot of pain in the future.

Instead, I politely asked who he was. He jumped in surprise and started twitching his talons awkwardly. I thought, that reminds me of myself.

"Are you okay?" he asked me, instead of answering.

I told him I was fine and repeated my question. He frowned and looked at me like we knew each other. I sat down and studied his face. I wondered where I had last seen him.

"I'm Deadlyclaws," he said. "I'm a scribe." Then he laughed and added, "Not a very good one."

"Oh," I replied, "I remember now. Commas."

He smiled, and something changed in me. My heart started beating fast. My wings fluttered. I didn't look at his face.

I asked him to stay, so he did. We practiced until the night fell. There were a few stars visible, I think.

His advice helped, but I never learned the move correctly.

* * *

The prophecy was spread far and wide. Morrowseer would leave on secret missions that only Battlewinner and I knew the purpose of. He was making sure that our lies spread all over Pyrrhia. He became allies with Nautilus, the SeaWing who would go on to found the Talons of Peace. Nearly all of the world thought that he was a prophet. I had to sort through the letters that he sent us and file them away in my mother's study. He had really bad handwriting.

Morrowseer became especially proud of himself. I think it was because of how many dragons believed in him. Maybe he fooled himself. Though I wasn't afraid of him anymore, I started to hate him.

In the following year, Battlewinner became more and more agitated. Sometimes she scowled and removed dragons from the council. Sometimes she yelled at the scribes and soldiers to work harder. Sometimes she took her anger out on me.

My battle training continued. It got impossibly hard. Whenever I broke down and started crying about it, Battlewinner would just hiss and hit me with her wing. It was like she gave up on shouting at me. I started to miss her old speeches. She ordered me to do many long, menial jobs, like organizing meetings and overseeing dragonets. She never trusted me with real queenly work.

The weight of the world was on her back. Instead of giving it to me, she tried to bear it by herself. I didn't see this at the time. I thought she was just being cruel.

One day I asked her let me meet with Morrowseer and hear his report. To prove myself worthy of a _real_ job. She lashed her tail and laughed bitterly. "Does the princess finally want to do her job? After all these years of failure?"

I was sent to train for another three hours. Deadlyclaws helped me. He helped get my mind off of how awful I felt.

* * *

We began receiving reports of attacks on our scouts. At first, Battlewinner blamed Morrowseer. She thought his plan had backfired. If the rest of the tribes found out we were lying, then we were doomed.

Soon we learned the real reason. IceWings were hunting down our teams, and killing them in cold blood. A survivor of one attack was brought before Battlewinner. He told her that the Ice Kingdom was a deathtrap where NightWings were tortured and murdered.

Battlewinner was enraged. She stormed through the fortress and shouted for her council. They talked of justice. I sat beside her, nodding my head and saying nothing. There was hardly any discussion, just a lot of angry agreeing. We _needed_ to avenge the deaths. Battlewinner wanted blood.

You see, Queen Glacier had previously issued a statement that 'NightWings were no longer to be targeted'. This was part of her plan to end the centuries-old fight between our tribes. Battlewinner, in response, had ordered her tribe to stay away from the Ice Kingdom.

Now the IceWings were ignoring the decree, and Glacier was turning a blind eye!

By the end of the meeting, Battlewinner had calmed down. She took a deep breath and said, "We cannot be brash. I will have Morrowseer write to the IceWings. Let us hope for peace." I wrote those words down, in my notes.

The tribe was shocked by her decision. It was for our own good, though. Battlewinner didn't want to risk losing dragons in a war. As much as she wanted revenge, she put the Night Kingdom's survival before its honor. She told me that, when I was queen, I would have to do the same.

Our hatred of the IceWings factored into the prophecy discussion. It was decided that, no matter what, we would not support Blaze because she was allied with Glacier. The council continued to argue over supporting Burn and Blister, and Battlewinner continued not to take a side.

The mainland conflict grew worse and worse. I sorted through all the letters and saw a pattern: everyone wanted us to go to war.

* * *

It felt like the pressure was building. I was sure that something about to explode.

During one council meeting, I learned that my fears could be literal. Lateword's apprentice, Mastermind, presented his scary predictions about how the island could blow up. Mastermind was always a very odd dragon. I think he wanted to usurp his mentor and become Royal Scientist, because Lateword seemed very wary of him.

The report startled the council. It threatened every important plan. Battlewinner was distressed, Lateword accused his charge of exaggerating, and the meeting ended with a lot of shouting. I never liked Mastermind much after that.

Thoughts of lava and death plagued me. I was afraid of own home. The constant stench of smoke didn't help at all.

I told Deadlyclaws about my fear, and he brought me down to the beach. He said that if the volcano ever erupted, we could flee out over sea. We could fly and fly until we reached the lost land from our bedtime stories.

I did not believe him. A princess learns not to believe in anyone's promises. But it was nice to hear him talking, and to have him put his wing around me.

* * *

More NightWings died on the mainland. With the news of each death, the tribe whipped itself into a frenzy. It's hard to describe the fear, hatred, and desperation they caused. One, common dragon dying may not seem like a big deal to healthier tribes. To a weak tribe like mine, it was worse than an a declaration of war.

There were even rumors of rogue NightWings planning to go attack the IceWings themselves. Morrowseer assured us that they were false. Now I think he was behind a few of them! He was always very popular with the rest of the tribe. He could have secretly stirred them up.

Battlewinner called an emergency meeting. She looked very tired We had no generals (our tribe was too weak to worry about military leaders), so it was just the council. Some of them seemed eager to take action, others were against it. One dragon named Smokeseer cried, "If we don't fight, we'll be destroyed!"

From my seat next to Battlewinner, I watched them argue. She told me not to take notes, but to listen very carefully.

She promised them that she would make a decision within a day. Morrowseer smiled. There was grumbling and sighing. She silenced it with a sharp glare. Even in the face of this massive news, she remained stoic and beautiful. She looked like a legendary queen from before Vigilance's time. When she dismissed the council, not a single dragon dared say anything.

I watched them all file out of the room. Morrowseer glanced back at Battlewinner and I. His calmness confused me.

That night, I approached my mother in her chamber. She was at her window, just sitting there. She looked so sad and angry and dangerous at the same time.

I stopped. I didn't know how to address her. I wondered if she would even answer my question.

"Mama," I asked, "what's wrong?"

She did not look at me. She placed both of her talons on the window ledge and rested her head on them. Then she quietly said, "I will be leading an attack on the IceWings. Greatness, we are at war."


End file.
